Sanditon revisited

13: Not the same man, not the same river

Author's note: Life kept me from updating for longer than I had intended, but I have next chapter almost complete too.

For technical annoying reasons I have not been able to watch episode 7 for some time so have written this with the help of YouTube videos and memory. I might edit at some point when I re-watch if I find I have missed something essential, but I have already spent way too much time thinking about this. This chapter does not sit 100% with me but I have changed and added for so long that I simply publish now.

Even if I write for no better reason than that I cannot stop myself, I love feedback and I am always grateful when you let me know what you think so thanks much for reviwes and likes to previous chapters!

If you are not on Twitter yet, please join the Sanditonsisterhood and fun conversation there to fight for a Sanditon Season 2 - lol. I go under MissPiony on Twitter too.

- o -

In which Sidney doubts he is able to dive into the same river twice

- o -

"Miss Heywood. I wondered whether I might persuade you to take a walk with me. Unless, now is not a...?"

James Stringer interrupted himself. There was nothing he wanted more than to be with Miss Heywood, but only if she wanted it too. To his relief she seemed pleased by his request and bestowed him a sweet smile. She was always so kind to him, but then again she was to everyone and he wondered if her actions possibly could have any deeper meaning. He hoped so with all his heart.

"Oh, no, now is the perfect time. I need to make sure everything stands ready at the starting line. Perhaps you could accompany me?" she suggested.

They wandered across the meadow. It was peaceful here, away from the crowd, but Charlotte's did not find peace. James noticed that even if she seemed glad to be in his company she was also a bit absent-minded, as if contemplating something.

Charlotte's thoughts were indeed elsewhere, more specifically with Mr. Parker and Mrs. Campion, anxiously wondering how the two were amusing themselves right now. Were they perhaps stealing kisses behind a tree trunk, or even worse, getting engaged again? Both scenarios made her insides twist. She felt like she in Stringer had another friend in addition to Lady Susan this day, but of course she could not talk to him about her inconvenient feelings for Sidney Parker. For a while she enjoyed the companionable silence but was not truly present.

"Looks as though the regatta will be a success, Miss, and that is in large part down to you", Stringer now tried to get her full attention. Startled she snapped back to him, feeling slightly guilty. She hoped he had not noticed her lack of attention.

"In truth, I have been grateful for the distraction", she sighed.

"Distraction from what?"

From Sidney Parker transforming from the rudest, most infuriating man into the most desirable one, alas already spoken for.

"My own thoughts, I suppose."

"What kind of thoughts?"

She looked away, let her hand glide over the tops of the high blades of grass along their path and they tickled her palm.

"It's difficult to say."

"Perhaps you might find me a more sympathetic listener than you might imagine. It could be that we share the same thoughts."

Thinking about a tall handsome man named Sidney Parker? Wondering what the way Mr. Parker sometimes looked at her meant? Asking how he could dance with her like there was no one else in the room, then leave her and act like he forgot she even existed? Dwell upon how Mr. Parker could ask permission to wait for her and accompany her from Georgiana whilst smiling and joking so it felt intimate, only to bring his old fiancée here the following day and almost ignore Charlotte in her presence? Obsessing over if all this was love and if so, was it supposed to hurt this much? She seriously doubted that James Stringer and she shared the same thoughts.